Possible Fossett ID, other items found in Calif.

By AP&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Wed 3:02 PM, Oct 01, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A hiker in a rugged part of eastern California found an ID and other items possibly belonging to Steve Fossett, the adventurer who vanished on a solo flight in a borrowed plane more than a year ago, authorities said Wednesday.

The items were found Monday near the town of Mammoth Lakes, Inyo National Forest spokeswoman Nancy Upham said.

"We have some ID that has the name Steve Fossett," Mammoth Lakes police Investigator Crystal Schafer said. "They were turned in to us and are in our possession."

A Federal Aviation Administration identity card, a pilot ID and about $1,000 in cash were found in a bush, according to David Baumwohl, an attorney for the hiker who recovered the items.

Preston Morrow, who works in a Mammoth Lakes sporting goods store, took the items to the town's police department Wednesday, Baumwohl said.

The hiker initially didn't know who Fossett was, but once he found out, wanted to alert the Fossett family, Baumwohl said.

Michael LoVallo, a lawyer for Fossett's wife, Peggy, said, "We are aware of the reports and are trying to verify the information."

Baumwohl and Morrow tried to contact the law firm that handled the death declaration. When they weren't successful, they decided to turn everything over to the police, the attorney said.

Morrow also found a black Nautica pullover fleece, size XL, but left that at the scene. A quick search for airplane pieces before night fell didn't turn anything up, Baumwohl said.

Chances of finding remains are slim, said the attorney, who is a longtime resident of the mountain town and has followed similar cases.

"He's probably been eaten. This is not the first time this has happened," he said. "When people land in alpine wilderness, there's bears, mountain lions that'll eat the body."

This year's biggest search for Fossett focused on Nevada's Wassuk Range, more than 50 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. That search ended last month.

Mammoth Lakes is at an elevation of more than 7,800 feet on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada, where peaks top 13,000 feet.

Fossett made a fortune trading futures and options on Chicago markets. He gained worldwide fame for more than 100 attempts and successes in setting records in high-tech balloons, gliders, jets and boats. In 2002, he became the first person to circle the world solo in a balloon. He was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in July 2007.

He also swam the English Channel, completed an Ironman Triathlon, competed in the Iditarod dog sled race and climbed some of the world's best-known peaks, including the Matterhorn in Switzerland and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

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